Harper talks development in North

By STEPHANIE LEVITZ The Canadian PressPublished August 22, 2012 - 3:49am Last Updated August 22, 2012 - 6:53am

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivers a speech after touring a copper mine in Minto, Yukon, on Tuesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)

MINTO, Yukon — The prime minister says he wants to simplify rules around resource development in the North in the same way changes were made for projects in the rest of Canada.

Stephen Harper said that solving the enormous social challenges in the North will be simpler if economic development increases.

But he says changing the review processes for northern projects is more complex because of aboriginal land claims.

“There’s been great benefit to this part of the country,” Harper said during a visit Tuesday to this Yukon community, part of his annual summer tour of the North.

“Does that mean there aren’t still enormous social challenges that need to be addressed? There are. But look, those things become so much simpler if we can get economic development driving some wealth accumulation here.”

Changes to the environmental review process for natural resource projects was one of the most controversial elements of the Conservative government’s recent federal budget.

Critics say it means projects will get the green light without adequate consideration of environmental and social implications.

But Harper says the seriousness with which Canada treats the environmental consequences of mining is what sets its developments apart from others around the world.

He says the fact Canada is attracting investment in its natural resources sector from around the world is a testament to its strength.

“We want economic development but we want in the end that development to leave us with lands and territories that will continue to support good, human activity and human habitation for many centuries to come,” Harper said.

“So that is our objective. … We’re looking to try and accomplish a similar thing here. In some cases this is a more complex environment particularly because of the nature of the aboriginal land claims settlement, but those things will very much be taken into account in anything we do.”

The prime minister’s comments followed a tour with his wife Laureen of the Minto copper and gold mine, which has some 300 workers, of which about a quarter are First Nations peoples.

The Minto mine is on the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation. Their chief Kevin McGinty says they have a good relationship with Capstone, the mine’s owners, who have helped build a new water plant for the community.

“If development happens in the North, it must be responsible, safe and include First Nation participation,” McGinty said.

It was the prime minister’s first full day in the North, which began in Whitehorse, about 240 kilometres south.

Miners have been active in the Yukon since the days of the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1800s. According to statistics from the mining industry, there are over 80 mineral resource deposits in the territory.

Last year, more than $300 million was spent on exploration, and mineral production soared above $400 million from just $46 million in 2006, according to the Yukon Chamber of Mines.